Green

Like they used to say on TV, membership has it’s privileges. Both of the Bay Area children’s museums that I have been to are part of a consortium of Children’s Museums that have reciprocal memberships. This means that if you get a one-year membership at Habitot in Berkeley, for example, you can go to the […]

We really did this when we had infants. If you have a little baby (or nutty toddler), permission granted to do the same! Three easy steps to a super cheap (FREE + GREEN) thoughtful gift: THINK about your friend. Really think about them. What does she need? More time away from the kids? Time to […]

The wonderful thing about an almost-nine-month old is that fabulous head control that just screams “put me in a baby jogger and let’s see how fast this thing can go.” Send your partner out for a short run with the jogging stroller and you can catch up on sleep, phone calls, or reading. Make sure […]

Thank you to Seventh Generation and Touch of Cloth™ Disposable Diapers for sponsoring this post. I have definitely been in the position to bum diapers off strangers in the past. Accidents happen, of course they do. But to be prepared for the next rookie mom adventure, I need to channel my inner control freak (who am I kidding? […]

This love letter/guest post was written by my friend and fellow soccer parent, Nila Rosen. I never thought that I would I would be co-parenting with anyone else but the person who got me pregnant 11 years ago, but I am — and it’s not due to divorce or separation. In fact, I am still […]

Are you ready to see some big smiles? Or looks of horror? Be prepared for either. Our babysitter taught us the following method for putting Julian on the slide when he was too young to slide sitting up: Put baby on tummy, feet down, mid way up the slide. Place his hands up near his […]

Whitney ran into my friend Jeanine outside her house. Jeanine was helping her 9-month old daughter, Pepper, touch some furry lavender sticking out from Whitney’s garden, and didn’t realize whose house it was. The girls had been going on a sensory tour of the neighborhood. Try it yourself to keep the neighborhood walks interesting (for […]

While my kids were out of the house one day, I got a little crazy crafty and painted their bedroom door. It was previously all dark wood, which I didn’t like anyway, so I painted the trim white and the inner panel with black chalkboard paint. I was influenced by my Internet friend Amy, who […]

What’s all this Back to School nonsense? Stop trying to end my summer! August isn’t half over yet and we still have a lot of water play to get into. Today we have a giveaway for those who don’t have a care in the world about school starting. We are thankful to the folks at […]

Taking the baby in the pool is both scary and funny. A kid’s gotta stick his toe into the water at some point, right? Buy a package of disposable swim diapers or a reusable one, and plan your outing. This is our 27th rookie mom challenge. If you are alone, think carefully through the logistics […]

Your 26th weekly challenge is to invest in a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps each day. You’ll be surprised how many steps a mom can take just running around the house, but if you’re going to reach 10,000, you’ll need to take a walk outside for sure. This is good motivation to get some […]

By the time my first baby was 10 weeks old, I had not exercised for about 6 months. Baby Bootcamp was my re-introduction to sweating and I loved it. I was not a gym-goer in my normal life, and Baby Bootcamp was perfect for me. Here’s why: Exercising in the company of other sleep-deprived, temporarily […]